Radiculopathy...

[rpowell01]

Well since my last post on this they have changed the hydrocodone/Vicodine to Oxycodone/Percocet and it works better than anything else I've taken. Yes I get constipated and it feels like I've had had 10 babies in the past month but I do take some softeners or I take a laxative once every two weeks.

My PCP was concerned I would get addicted and I have proven him wrong. Everytime I get constipated really bad I clean myself out and when I do that I don't take the Percocet. Yes my pain levels go sky high like it use to but I don't have an addiction to it.

So, I've done some research and people who have chronic pain and live with chronic pain does NOT get addicted to pain killers. They become DEPENDENT and not addicted. That is two different things. What has happened is people who have pain these doctors just gives out these pain killers but once their pain leaves they become addicted and that is where the problem is at. A person who lives in pain everyday doesn't get addicted because they don't crave the pain killers. They take them to bring down the pain levels where a person who is addicted takes them to get a high. I don't get high on them, I get relief. Two different things.

So, the next time your PCP or any other doctor tells you that you might get addicted you tell him to do some research that shows people who have chronic pain does NOT get addicted, period. The stats are online.

[TLaff]

Im taking 2700 Mg of Gabapentin a day and Cebaltra for depression for major pain from cervical triple fusion and lumbar herniated disc and Migraine medicine and some others. My question is this, im sick and tired of taking all this crap and it makes me sick to my stomach and dizzy blurred vission and my eyes have gone bad fast and i think its all do to the meds. What can the VA do if i just quit going or refuse to take meds can they stop my disability?

I think all i really need is pain meds they refuse to give me and i dont mean any strong stuff just hydrocodone 2 a day and i think i would get by but they wont give it to me. Can i just say thanks but no thanks and go to a doctor outside the VA with out loosing my disability?

[Dolphin25]

"So, the next time your PCP or any other doctor tells you that you might get addicted you tell him to do some research that shows people who have chronic pain does NOT get addicted, period. The stats are online."

You are right about not getting high on pain medication after so long, I have been on my methadone for the past 12 years and don't get high but what I do get is pain relief. To me this is the best pain medication I have ever taken and

I have taken the whole gamut of that stuff. Been on the Gaba and other stuff that makes you goofy as hell, something I don't need in my life so I gave it up and take the methadone and a breakthrough pain med Hydrocodone. But now

my Doctor has taken me down from a very effective dose to one that is completely ineffective. How can one argue with them, I told him you are treating the policy not the veteran, where do I fit in all of this. I told him you don't know what

pain is..his reply..."oh yes I know what pain is I see it everyday.." Hate to inform you Doc but that is not the same thing by a long shot. I have to use a Catheter and since I have no one to change it regularly I end up using it longer than

it is suppose to be used for and this has ended up causing me kidney problems and kidney stones. I can't walk or stand and he knows this but yet will still try to make appointments for me to place over a 100 miles away, why would he do this?? I have been seeing this guy for the past 3 years and he knows my situation, even wrote me a letter stating if patient doesn't receive a higher level of Aid and Attendance then he will be forced to go to a nursing home or other similar place God forbid. I refuse to go to a place like that, but if they would approve my Appeal for a higher level of AA then I could hire someone legitimate to come in a help me, the cost is way to prohibitive for me right now..I get about 4500 dollars a month for 100% disability and Aid and Attendance at the "M" rate. I am not sure how it works but since I have 2 letters from 2 different doctors stating I need a higher rating of AA and my inability to walk or stand with weakness in my hands and shoulders should make me eligible for a rate increase. I fear they will deny me because of the amount of retroactive pay which could be around a half million dollars, would that make me a half millionaire?? I need someone besides the DAV to represent me as I fear they won't do the cut up job they think they can do with the BVA, I read the decisions on the cases just released from the BVA and just about all are denied, some

I can see why they are denied but there are some that should be a shoe-in for an R-1 or R-2.

I don't know which way this VA medication policy is going to go but I fear it will not be good for the Veterans any time soon. I am eligible for Medicare beginning in May next year, guess I need to read up on it to see if I want to apply for it or not.

Good luck to everyone....

[Vync]

Well since my last post on this they have changed the hydrocodone/Vicodine to Oxycodone/Percocet and it works better than anything else I've taken. Yes I get constipated and it feels like I've had had 10 babies in the past month but I do take some softeners or I take a laxative once every two weeks.

My PCP was concerned I would get addicted and I have proven him wrong. Everytime I get constipated really bad I clean myself out and when I do that I don't take the Percocet. Yes my pain levels go sky high like it use to but I don't have an addiction to it.

So, I've done some research and people who have chronic pain and live with chronic pain does NOT get addicted to pain killers. They become DEPENDENT and not addicted. That is two different things. What has happened is people who have pain these doctors just gives out these pain killers but once their pain leaves they become addicted and that is where the problem is at. A person who lives in pain everyday doesn't get addicted because they don't crave the pain killers. They take them to bring down the pain levels where a person who is addicted takes them to get a high. I don't get high on them, I get relief. Two different things.

So, the next time your PCP or any other doctor tells you that you might get addicted you tell him to do some research that shows people who have chronic pain does NOT get addicted, period. The stats are online.

Wow, I never heard it put quite like that: "10 babies in the past month". The problem with taking opiates regularly and laxatives periodically is they can jack up your regularity. The last place you want to be is sitting on the porcelain convenience grunting out a baby. All that strain can lead to other problems like hernias, 'roids, and could also make your back and radiculopathy worse. Askthe VA for the generic equivalent of Miralax and they are likely to send a gargantuan bottle. A little bit each day with orange juice, protein shake, or a smoothie can really help. For those desperate times when nothing works, my non-VA doc gave me some samples of a new med called Linzess. Forget going anywhere the day you take it, but it is the equivalent of Mt. Vesuvius in a bottle. I asked my VAMC primary care doc for it, but she never heard of it.

I like your point about PCP's buying the BS about addiction. If they pull up a Vet in the narcotics registry and see they went to 24 different docs in a week asking for pain meds, I can see that patient being deemed an addict or a dealer. But my new VA PCP treated me like a criminal until they saw I requested refills less often than needed. It was both humorous and insulting. "Why did you get meds from that non-VA doc? Because he just did surgery on my leg and I never went back for a refill because I just took what you guys gave me. Did you notice I did not ask for refills from the VA that month? Oh..." You cannot make up this stuff.

[ArNG11]

Wow, I never heard it put quite like that: "10 babies in the past month". The problem with taking opiates regularly and laxatives periodically is they can jack up your regularity. The last place you want to be is sitting on the porcelain convenience grunting out a baby. All that strain can lead to other problems like hernias, 'roids, and could also make your back and radiculopathy worse. Askthe VA for the generic equivalent of Miralax and they are likely to send a gargantuan bottle. A little bit each day with orange juice, protein shake, or a smoothie can really help. For those desperate times when nothing works, my non-VA doc gave me some samples of a new med called Linzess. Forget going anywhere the day you take it, but it is the equivalent of Mt. Vesuvius in a bottle. I asked my VAMC primary care doc for it, but she never heard of it.

I like your point about PCP's buying the BS about addiction. If they pull up a Vet in the narcotics registry and see they went to 24 different docs in a week asking for pain meds, I can see that patient being deemed an addict or a dealer. But my new VA PCP treated me like a criminal until they saw I requested refills less often than needed. It was both humorous and insulting. "Why did you get meds from that non-VA doc? Because he just did surgery on my leg and I never went back for a refill because I just took what you guys gave me. Did you notice I did not ask for refills from the VA that month? Oh..." You cannot make up this stuff.

Vync I did the same when I was on this medication. They gave me Psyllium Fiber. Tastes not so good. I add a little bit of honey or raw sugar even though it has dextrose as a sweetener in it. It helps.